Wolf Daughter
by CherryDolly
Summary: "Ochre turned her back from the truth of her reflection. She wasn't a wolf. That was why her mother had kept her away from tailless camps." Two boys stumble across Ochre, a girl who was raised by wolfs. Who is she? And where did she come from?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Dreaming**

Lonnie and Aken glared at each other. It was mid-afternoon and they had wandered too far from camp on their little hunting trip. Aken sighed and looked up at the grey clouds lurking overhead.

"We haven't caught anything and we're a day walk from camp. We haven't got sleeping sacks and we don't have much tinder either, not to mention the storm on the way. Now what are we supposed to do?" Aken asked. Lonnie took a swig from his waterskin then filled it up in the river.

"Ok! So I made a mistake. I'm sorry." Lonnie said sullenly. He looked at the older boy. While Aken was older, Lonnie was tall and so they were a similar height. Aken had tanned skin and dark brown hair. His light brown eyes contrasted to the rest of him, unsettling Lonnie.

"I remember passing what looked like a cave a little while back. We could make it half way back to camp if we leave now." Lonnie pointed out. Aken looked at him and then nodded. The two raven clan boys headed quickly to shelter before the storm's fury hit.

Ochre stirred as she slept...

In this Now, she is hugging a tailless. The tailless has the same coloured hair as her and it is blowing around her face. The strands of red hair tickle her nose. The tailless cradles her gently. She stretches up to look into the large green eyes of the tailless. She smiles at Ochre and presses her muzzle to her forehead. Ochre feels warm tingles shoot through her body. Another tailless appears. He is tall and different from the kind female tailless. He has a darker pelt and dark hair. But his eyes are a light grey, just like Ochre's father in the real Now. She reaches for the tall tailless willingly. She knows these taillesses. They are her parents.

Suddenly, the taillesses are running. She doesn't know where, but she senses fear and anger. She sees her mother and her father run towards the taillesses and Ochre is suddenly hanging from her mother's mouth. Mother is also scared.

Ochre yelped in her sleep. Darkfur raised her muzzle to check on her. Ochre jolted upright, her eyes wide from the nightmare. Darkfur wandered over to her and licked her face.  
_I dreamed of the tall tailless and his mate._  
She told her mother. Darkfur's green eyes glittered like the sunlight hitting tree leaves.  
_You dream about them often.  
Yes. Who are they?  
_Darkfur licked Ochre's face.  
_You are tired. Sleep._

Ochre looked at her mother. She was curious to know why her mother never said anything about the taillesses. Ochre curled up next to Darkfur and closed her eyes and sank into a deep and tired sleep.

When Ochre awoke in the morning, she heard her pack brothers playing outside the den. They were born two summers ago but had grown much faster than her. Ochre stretched then wandered outside and headed off to the fast wet. It was a clear morning but there was the tense feeling in the air that comes before a storm. Small mammals scurried around checking burrows and birds fussed about their nests. As she approached the fast wet she saw tailless tracks. Someone had been walking beside the fast wet recently. Looking around cautiously, Ochre drank some wet and then caught herself looking at her reflection.

Her eyes were the colour of spring grass, her fur only grew on her head and was an ochre colour, hence her name. Her pelt was not as pale as some tailless pelts, but the tall tailless in her dreams had a darker pelt. Her muzzle was different than a normal wolf. Everything about her was different from a normal wolf. Ochre turned her back from the truth of her reflection. She wasn't a wolf. That was why her mother had kept her away from tailless camps. Ochre took another quick drink before joining her brothers on a hunt.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 Caught**

Lonnie and Aken had just reached the cave when the rain began to pour. Carefully, Lonnie crawled in first, checking for signs of other animals. The cave had a low ceiling, but it was fairly deep and would keep them safe from the weather for the night.

"There isn't anything in here at the moment, but looks like wolfs were here recently." Lonnie reported to Aken, who was waking a fire.

"Hang on, is that a handprint?" Lonnie exclaimed. Aken followed Lonnie's gaze. Crawling closer, the two boys examined the print. Aken noticed more hand and foot prints, mixed in with paw prints.

"Do you think someone has used this as well or-" Aken's sentence was cut off by the growls of four wolves _and a girl!_

Ochre stared at the taillesses as they stared at her. Ochre heard her father step forward, growling. The taillesses smelt scared. The one with the lighter pelt opened his mouth and began speaking in tailless talk. It sounded like _Whoareyou?_ He reeked of fear, but his voice sounded friendly. Father began growling to mother.  
_They have the markings that female tailless had._  
Darkfur looked at Wolf.  
_What do we do?_  
Wolf looked over at Ochre. Ochre didn't notice. She was still staring at the taillesses. Wolf walked over to Ochre.  
_You will stay with them now._  
Ochre wimpered.  
_No. I'm staying with the pack. Stay. Don't leave.  
_But they had left already. Horrified, Ochre ran outside. The story had subsided and now it was only sprinkling with rain. Her sense of smell and her eyesight was never as good as her packs and so she soon lost the tracks. Ochre howled a heartbreaking howl. How could they have just left her with the taillesses? She howled again. No response. She ran in circles, then lay down under a bush and fell asleep.

***_  
_Aken found Ochre asleep under the bush a few hours later. He called Lonnie over.

"I found her. The poor thing." Aken said, stroking her face.

"You think we should take her back to camp?" Lonnie asked nervously.

"Of course! We can't just leave her here. The wolves have obviously abandoned her." He pulled out some string and bound her hands and feet. Then, he lifted her onto his back. They'd been walking for a while before Ochre woke up. Aken could feel her wriggling. Then, she began to growl and bark. Aken lost his balance and slipped. Ochre snarled as Lonnie tried to come close to her.

"What do we do?" Lonnie asked. He looked as Ochre. She would be pretty, he thought, if she were clean. Aken pulled out his medicine pouch and pulled out a pinkish coloured root. Slowly, he approached Ochre. She growled and snarled and thrashed around. He continued to approach, murmuring to her in a soft, friendly voice. He ground the root into a powder with a rock, then put it into his waterskin. Then, he offered the waterskin to the Ochre. When she didn't take it, he put it on the ground next to her and backed away.

Ochre stared at the pouch. She could smell the water and was very thirsty but she didn't want to seem weak. In the end, her survival instincts kicked in and she wriggled over to the pouch. The tailless with the dark pelt stepped forward and helped her drink. When no one wet came out, she gave a satisfied yip. He looked at her and then pulled out an oddly shaped fish. It smelt like fish, but it also smelt like juniper berries too. Dark pelt tailless offered it to her. She growled. Wolves don't accept food just like that! Ochre began to feel sleepy. Her vision blurred. Then she realised that the root the tailless had put into the wet had made her sleepy. They'd tricked her!


End file.
